1. Field
The following description relates to the field of telecommunications technology and is applicable to remote management system including a server and multiple devices connected through one or more gateways in a multi-level Hierarchical Architecture of Gateways, with a tree structure. More specifically, the following description describes a method that enables a new functionality for the Open Mobile Alliance-Device Management (OMA-DM) Gateway MO (GwMO): support for Hierarchical Architecture of Gateways.
2. Description of the Related Art
Gateway MO V1.0 [GwMO_TS_V10] introduced the concept of DM-Gateway (Device Management Gateway): an entity that facilitates the interaction between a management server and a management client, at least one of which runs OMA-DM, in situations where it is not possible for direct interaction and without help between the management server and management client. The documents cited in the reference section are incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
GwMO V1.0 [GwMO_TS_V10] achieved several advantages when compared to the traditional architecture involving only the DM Server and DM Client and alleviated the DM Server in managing each End Device individually. Thanks to GwMO V1.0, the DM Gateway is able to manage the End Devices behind it, on behalf of the Server.
The following functionalities are covered by GwMO V1.0:
Many End Devices can be organized and managed together as a specific Device Group.
DM commands originated by the Server may be distributed to multiple End Devices that are attached to the Gateway, known as “Command Fanout”. The Server sends management commands to the Gateway and the Gateway forwards the commands to one or many End Devices that were pre-grouped into a specific Device Group.
After a “Command Fanout” execution, the collection of the responses of multiple End Devices attached to the Gateway are grouped into a single response is sent back to the server, and is known as “Response Aggregation”. After the DM Gateway receives the responses sent by the End Device(s), the Gateway may notify the Server about the command completion status, or it may send the aggregated response of the command, from multiple End Devices, to the DM Server.
The DM Gateway is able to distribute software images to End Devices associated to that Gateway on behalf of the Server. The Server can deliver the image to the Gateway and the Gateway distributes that image to many End Devices specified by a Device Group.
However, GwMO V1.0 [GwMO_TS_V10], with just one DM Gateway level between the server and client (FIG. 1), presents some limitations in terms of flexibility and scalability.
The GwMO V1.1 Requirement Document (RD) [GwMO_RD_V11] has introduced the definition and the requirements for a multi-level architecture called Hierarchical Architecture. A Hierarchical Architecture refers to as a multi-level tree structure composed of a DM Server, DM Gateways, and End Devices. A DM server is located at the top of the tree. End Devices are located at the leaves of the branches. DM Gateways are cascaded in branches between a DM Server and End Devices. Hierarchical Architecture addresses large networks with a great number of End Devices, in a scalable way.
In Hierarchical Architecture topology, defined by GwMO V1.1 RD, it is possible that a parent DM Gateway may be associated to one or more child DM Gateways, in addition to the regular End Devices previously defined in GwMO V1.0.
The introduction of Hierarchical Architecture will add scalability and flexibility to the previous version GwMO V1.0 as follows:
Scalability: The maximum number of supported End Devices is no longer limited to the capacity of one DM Gateway connection, in order to support larger networks as M2M (Machine-to-Machine Communication) networks such as Power-Grids involving thousands or millions of devices. For example, in a tree-like Hierarchical Architecture with 3 levels of Gateways, where each one could manage 50 connections, up to 2551 (1+50+50^2) DM Gateways would be able to manage up to 125 thousand End Devices (50^3) in behalf of one single DM Server.
Flexibility: more convenient management topologies may be designed based on geographic, functional, or organizational criteria. Example: Gateways may be dedicated to specific locations (e.g. building, building floor, block, office), specific functions (e.g. energy consumption metering, security, cooling-heating systems) or organization (department, division, branches).
In order to support the Hierarchical Architecture, GwMO V1.1 Requirement Document (RD) [GwMO_RD_V11] has defined the requirements for GwMO to be able to manage child Gateways, in addition to the regular End Devices as defined in V1.0:                Ability to configure specific Connect-Disconnect Alerts for child DM Gateways.        Ability to configure specific report Alerts for Child DM Gateways.        Ability to configure specific Images provisioning for Child DM Gateways.        Ability to configure specific groups for Child DM Gateways, for “Command Fanout” to child DM Gateways and “Response Aggregation” from child DM Gateways.        
The GwMO V1.0 Architecture Document (AD) has previously presented the interface between the DM Gateway and its associated End Devices. Aligned with the HA requirements, the GwMO V1.1 Architecture Document (AD) [GwMO_AD_V11] has extended the interface between DM Gateway-End Device into a new relationship and interface between Parent Gateway-Child Gateway. Due to these differences, a DM Gateway now needs to know which kind of devices it is associated to, in its immediate lower level: either an End Device or a Child DM Gateway, in order to invoke/expose the proper interface.
In order to comply with the requirements according to [GwMO_RD_V11] and with the proposed architecture design according to [GwMO_AD_V11], there is a need to differentiate in the Device Inventory which types of devices a DM Gateway is associated to, in the immediate lower-level:
An End Device.
A Child DM Gateway.
That differentiation, leveraged on previously existing GwMO V1.0 objects, will enable the requirements and architectural aspects for HA raised above, as will be described below in detail.
The prior art presents some solutions that aim to meet the requirements and architecture to support Hierarchical Architecture of Gateways.
The patent document WO2011021865, titled: TECHNIQUES FOR CONTROLLING GATEWAY FUNCTIONALITY TO SUPPORT DEVICE MANAGEMENT IN A COMMUNICATION SYSTEM, by Samsung Electronics, published on Feb. 24, 2011, presents techniques and algorithms for controlling gateway functionality in order to support Device Management (OMA-DM), in a communication system including a DM server, a device and just one DM Gateway in-between. The document WO2011021865 includes many management aspects which were incorporated in OMA-DM GwMO V1.0, which specifies a flat, non-hierarchical topology with just one level of gateway. It differs from the present disclosure, which addresses a multi-level, tree-like, Hierarchical Architecture of Gateways, object of next version under development, the GwMO V1.1, which extends V1.0 in a more flexible and scalable way. Moreover, the present disclosure provides a method and the means to enable and realize the Hierarchical Architecture, leveraging on functionalities available in GwMO V1.0.
The patent document US2012059924, titled METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR PERFORMING DEVICE MANAGEMENT THROUGH A GATEWAY DEVICE AND DEVICE MANAGEMENT SERVER, by Huawei, published on Mar. 8, 2012, is also based on OMA-DM and a system including a DM server, a device and a DM-Gateway in-between. More specifically, the document US2012059924 proposes a method for the DM Server to send a DM notification through the DM Gateway. The document US2012059924 covers a specific aspect of Device management in a flat, non-hierarchical topology with just one level of gateway. It differs from the present disclosure, which addresses a multi-level, tree-like, Hierarchical Architecture of Gateways, and it proposes a method to realize and to enable the Hierarchical Architecture requirements and architecture design.
The patent document WO2011122816, titled: TECHNIQUES FOR MANAGING DEVICES NOT DIRECTLY ACCESSIBLE TO DEVICE MANAGEMENT SERVER, by Samsung Electronics, published on Oct. 6, 2011, is also based on OMA-DM and on a flat, non-hierarchical, one-level Gateway topology, including a DM Server, a device, and a DM Gateway in-between. It addresses a specific issue related to handling a change in the device address. Conversely, the present disclosure addresses a multi-level, tree-like, Hierarchical Architecture of Gateways and proposes a method to realize the Hierarchical Architecture requirements and architecture design, leveraging on functionalities available in GwMO V1.0.
The patent document US2013130673 titled: METHOD, DEVICE AND SYSTEM FOR MANAGEMENT DEVICE, by Huawei, published on May 23, 2013, is also based on OMA-DM and on a flat, non-hierarchical, one-level Gateway topology, including a DM Server, a device, and just one DM gateway in-between. The method is related to the configuration and handling of a Uniform Resource Locators (URLs) at the WAN side as an identifier for the Gateway at the LAN side. It differs from the present disclosure, which addresses a multi-level structure, tree-like, Hierarchical Architecture of Gateways, and proposes a method to realize and to enable the Hierarchical Architecture requirements and architecture design.
The patent document WO2012174987, titled TERMINAL MANAGEMENT METHOD AND DEVICE, by Huawei, published on Dec. 27, 2012, is also based on OMA-DM and on a flat, non-hierarchical, one-level Gateway topology, including a DM server, a device, and just one DM Gateway in-between. It addresses the aspects of the batch management of devices by a gateway, similar to the device grouping, fanout command, and response aggregation embodied in GwMO V1.0. It differs from the present disclosure, which addresses a multi-level, tree-like, Hierarchical Architecture of Gateways and proposes a method to realize and to enable the Hierarchical Architecture requirements and architecture design.
The patent document US2013294285, titled METHOD FOR MANAGING A Remotely SENSOR NETWORK TOPOLOGY AND GATEWAY, by Huawei, published on Nov. 7, 2013, is also based on OMA-DM and on a flat, non-hierarchical, one-level Gateway topology including a DM server, a device—called “sensor” in the document US2013294285—and just one DM Gateway in-between. It addresses how a new device is discovered and notifies its connection to the gateway, similar to the Alert handling mechanism embodied in GwMO V1.0, in Device Info MO. The Device info MO is used to maintain information about the handling of different types of End Devices by DM Gateway, based on specified device groups. The document US2013294285 differs from the present disclosure, which addresses a multi-level, tree-like, Hierarchical Architecture of Gateways, and proposes a method to realize and to enable the Hierarchical Architecture requirements and architecture design.
The patent document EP1365557A2 titled: DEVICE-SHARING SYSTEM, DEVICE ADMINISTRATION TERMINAL, GATEWAY TERMINAL, AND METHOD FOR PROVIDING A DEVICE-SHARING SERVICE, by Seiko Epson, published on Nov. 26, 2003, addresses a home gateway interacting with one or more other home gateways for managing devices, such as printers or scanners through the internet but, differently than the present disclosure, those gateways are not organized in a Hierarchical, multi-level, tree-like Architecture, where a parent gateway can manage one or more child Gateways, for increased flexibility and scalability.